


Oaths Kept (and never broken)

by iceyly



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gen, Kingdom Hearts III Spoilers, Lich Heartless (Kingdom Hearts), other characters appear in minor roles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-20 01:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20667425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceyly/pseuds/iceyly
Summary: Kairi has been close to the Darkness before.





	Oaths Kept (and never broken)

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot was written as warm-up/sample for a Kairi-focused zine (Step Forward) to get more experience writing Kairi's perspective and the canon we got in the wake of III. I don't know if I've made it yet – the mail is supposed to come in sometimes today, but I figured I'll put this up as I wait. |D
> 
> As in most of my works, I'm not sticking to just the game and the international localization, but sometimes use lines from manga or novel, or (in this particular case) certain japanese lines from III and BBS.
> 
> Enjoy!

Kairi has been close to the Darkness before.

Not like Riku or even Sora – she’s never felt it burn inside her, but she remembers the cold. She remembers it trying to envelop her in Hollow Bastion, after Sora had freed her Heart and  _ that man _ had reached out for her.

She used to have nightmares about Riku getting swallowed by that same Darkness in the weeks after coming home, when the loneliness had been at its worst.

Then, in the Castle That Never Was, she had felt it again, gnawing at her skin. The only reason it hadn’t burrowed into her bones by the time Naminé had come to help was the glow of her own light, the brightness in her Heart that is supposed to be purer than anyone else’s Heart (safe the other six of the Seven Princesses.)

Neither time is comparable to now though, to the way the Heartless grab at her, ever eager to steal her Heart for good this time. The Darkness of the tornado they trap her in is more daunting than even Xehanort’s Heartless had been.

Her Heart aches at the thought of her eight comrades, of Ventus felled by the very friend he had meant to save (or at least, by the person wearing his face), of Axel’s attempt to protect her, of Donald falling after protecting Sora and her…

Of Sora reaching out, desperation shining in his eyes when the Heartless had pulled her and Axel off their feet and carried them away.

Now, in the deepest reaches of the Darkness, Kairi feels it press against the pulse of her own Light as she drifts. Here, in the dark, she cannot see. And in some ways it’s almost worse than when she had lost her Heart before, because then she at least had had Sora’s light to keep her company.

Here and now, there is only Darkness… And within this storm of Darkness are her comrades, and the last whispers of their Hearts. But there is something else here, too, something large and merciless that preys on them all.

‘ _ Terra…, _ ’ thinks Ventus just before the Darkness steals the last of his thoughts away, ‘ _ I couldn’t keep… our promise… _ ’

‘ _ I made a promise, too…, _ ’ murmurs Axel. Kairi’s Heart aches for him, because even though Axel had never mentioned it to her, she knows whom that promise must be to. ‘ _ To think… that Roxas needed to remind me to get it memorized… and yet, I couldn’t– _ ’

_ ‘I should have prepared better…, _ ’ whispers Mickey, heavy with sorrow and regret.  _ ‘Myself… and the others, too… _ ’

‘ _ We kept them safe… _ ’ Goofy quietly sighs, and Donald echoes the thought as the Darkness takes them both. ‘ _ If nothing else,… we did our duty. _ ’

_ ‘Maybe…’ _ Aqua notes, resignation heavy in her voice. ‘ _ We should all fade into the Darkness here… _ ’

Then, the Darkness takes her Heart and Kairi feels her loneliness grow. Soon, the thing that creeps inside the Darkness will come for her, too… and maybe it really is time to give up.

If nobody is left to fight… maybe they really have–

‘ _ You don’t believe that _ ,’ says Riku, quiet but certain. ‘ _ I know you don’t. _ ’

“No, I don’t,” echoes Kairi, and she can feel her own nails dig into her palms as she forces her eyes to open.

This isn’t the end. She won’t let it be.

Only Sora and her are left inside the Darkness now. Before her, she can sense the way the thing hovers, poised to take her most important friend’s Heart as its own. So, Kairi does as he had before. Within the span of a thought she is between Sora and the Darkness, arms stretched out wide as she glares up into the eternal Darkness.

“I said, this time I’ll fight, too,” she shouts and throws her head back defiantly. “So, I won’t let you have him!”

Not Sora, because he’ll be the one to help all the others defeat the Darkness and win back their Hearts.

“I won’t let him fade away!”

The thing inside the Darkness growls and swings some kind of weapon at her, but Kairi just presses her lips together as she glares ahead.

She is not afraid, not anymore.

Suddenly, the pendant of her necklace starts shining – a gentle light that grows brighter within seconds… and sends a pulse of light towards the thing – a Heartless, as she realizes now that the pendant lights up the area in front of her, pushing it back.

The Heartless screeches in outrage before attempting another swing at her, but the light of her pendant pulses again, stronger this time, forcing the Heartless to flee, leaving Sora and her behind.

“Why…?” she wonders, the fingers of her left hand gently playing with her pendant.

Her breath catches as Aqua’s voice echoes once more in her thoughts upon the touch. This time it’s gentle and happy, free from burden: ‘ _ If you are ever captured by the Darkness, your light will lead the way. _ ’

That… that must have been  _ before _ , before her life on the Islands, back when she had lived in Radiant Garden, Kairi thinks. She remembers so very little from that time… her grandmother’s story, the warmth in her voice, and now this flash from what must have been her very first encounter with Aqua.

She shakes her head sharply, focusing on Sora instead.

While his Heart is not lost, not like the others, he’s been fractured by the Darkness. The part of him with her is only a splinter of who he is.

“I believe in you!,” Kairi whispers to herself as her hands close around her pendant and she  _ wishes _ .

_ (Later, after Sora has helped the others, she lets her light lead the way to her, a relieved smile tugging at her lips as he takes her hands into his and twirls her around. _

_ “As I thought, Kairi is  _ strong _ !” he says with a smile that is just for her and for just a moment Kairi can’t look at him. Even if she isn’t sure if he is right… _

_ She has never felt stronger than she does now.) _

_ \--- Fin --- _

**Author's Note:**

> Please, consider leaving a kudo and/or a comment!


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